Your first visit to our office establishes a vital foundation for our relationship with you. During the first visit, we make sure to obtain important background information, like your medical history, and give you time to get to know Dr. Cowen. To understand what to expect for your first visit to our practice, please read through this page.
Below are the patient forms you'll need to complete on your first visit. You can expedite matters by downloading these forms, completing them at home and bringing them in with you, along with your insurance card and ID, to your initial visit to our office.
In order to view or print these forms you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. Click here to download it.
Your initial or yearly routine eye exam is a comprehensive evaluation that will take about one and a half hours. Your visit may take longer if you need specialized testing or have complex eye problems.
Please bring your medication list, insurance cards, photo ID and sunglasses. If you have had previous eye surgeries, please attempt to bring prior records.
If you require contact lenses, please bring your current contact lens information or records.
Your evaluation will begin with an in-depth medical history that will include any previous ophthalmic history and a medical review.
A refraction, which checks any possible need for a glasses prescription, will be performed to determine the best focus for your eyes. This important test is performed to determine your best possible vision, as well as whether you have any astigmatism and may be necessary regardless of whether you plan on getting glasses.
Your eye muscle coordination will be tested to see if they are fully functional individually and when tested with the other eye.
Pupil response to light will be examined to see if the light is being appropriately transmitted to your brain.
Peripheral (side) vision will be checked to see if you are missing parts of your visual fields from diseases like glaucoma or strokes.
A slit lamp microscope examination will be performed to look at health of the anterior segment of the eye, which includes your cornea.
Intraocular pressure will be checked to see if your eye pressures are at a normal level.
All new and routine eye exams include a dilated eye exam of both eyes. This important part of the exam will allow the doctor to look at the inside and back of the eyes and check the health of your lens, retina and optic nerve.
Other tests may also be performed on an as needed basis, depending on what the preceding parts of your examination have revealed. These include formal visual field testing, photography, high resolution scans of the back of the eye.
After the examination, Dr. Cowen will discuss the results of the exam with you and answer any questions you might have.